With a seat at the table, Venice Republican Detert aims high

TALLAHASSEE — Nancy Detert is not in line to become future president of the Florida Senate. She is not heading the chamber's powerful budget committee. She is not angling for a higher office.

But heading into her 13th regular session in the Florida Legislature, the Venice Republican has carved out her lawmaking niche, one that will allow her to have a major impact in the 2013 session on an array of issues, including a bid to ban texting while driving, taxation of Internet sales, improvement in foster care and action on consumer credit and economic incentives.

"My overriding goal is that I've been given a very important seat at the table and I don't want to waste that opportunity," Detert said. "I don't want to have regrets later that I didn't do good things when I had the chance."

Nancy Detert. H-T ARCHIVES, 2012

Detert, a 68-year-old former Sarasota County School Board member who previously owned a mortgage company, has a direct style, one that has not always helped her gain power and influence as a lawmaker. She doesn't mince words, though she often leavens her comments with humor.

She said her legislative philosophy is guided by thinking about the challenges facing ordinary Floridians like her three children and nine grandchildren.

"They want good schools. They want an affordable house. My family wants the same things that all the other families want," Detert said. "I didn't come up here to make rich people richer. I didn't come up here to resolve business disputes between competing businesses. I came up here to make the state of Florida as great a state as I possibly can."

She is in her third year as chairwoman of the Senate Commerce and Tourism Committee. Detert is also on some other major committees, including Banking and Insurance, which will handle bills involving Citizens Property; and two budget subcommittees, including one that oversees all spending for public schools and higher education.

Expertise on display

With eight years in the House, and in her fifth year in the Senate, Detert has the experience and rank to navigate the arcane, sometimes treacherous legislative process.

Her expertise was on display this month when she combined her bill to apply the state's 6 percent sales tax to Internet transactions — a measure that has the backing of Florida-based businesses — with one of Gov. Rick Scott's top priorities, a tax break for manufacturing equipment.

The move was designed to mute the criticism of the Internet bill as a potential tax boost by combining it with major tax cuts, including Scott's manufacturers' tax break and a reduction in the tax that consumers pay on phone and cable TV service.

Detert said she made the decision without prior clearance from Senate President Don Gaetz, R-Niceville — a sign of the confidence Senate leaders have in her. She called the Gaetz team "the best leadership that I have ever served under."

"It's the first time that I feel like I'm 100 percent on the same page with my leaders," Detert said.

Detert has not always been in step with the Republican legislative leadership. There were several notable instances, particularly in her House career, when she broke ranks, including one occasion when she opposed Gov. Jeb Bush's move to expand the use of school vouchers.

Yet as her legislative career has matured, Detert has been able to balance an independent streak with the role of team player.

"She is astute enough to understand how the game is played," said former state Sen. Paula Dockery, R-Lakeland, another lawmaker known for independence who is a good friend of Detert's.

Dockery said Detert may oppose the leadership "on a few issues if she feels very strongly about them."

"But she won't fall on her sword on others if she doesn't think her involvement is going to make a difference," Dockery said.

Detert offered her own straightforward assessment: "I try to be collegial and compromise where I can without selling out."

Pragmatic style

Detert has shown her toughness in the male-dominated legislative process, Dockery said.

But the former legislator attributes Detert's success to mastery of the issues.

"She disarms people because she's knowledgeable. She's tough, and she also has an incredible sense of humor," Dockery said.

Detert drew criticism from labor groups for her role in rewriting Florida's jobless benefits laws. Critics note that fewer workers qualify for those benefits in Florida than in other states, and that the Sunshine State's financial support is paltry compared with others'.

The Venice Republican counters that she didn't go as far as some business groups wanted in the rewrite, and that she felt the businesses had valid complaints — these included their inability to challenge some jobless claims.

Detert also defended the criticism of a new skills assessment test for jobless workers. She said that those workers had an obligation to improve themselves, and that there is only "so much hand-holding" that the state can do.

More recently, Detert was criticized for her handling of one of her top legislative priorities — a ban on texting while driving. It cleared the Senate Transportation Committee, with several senators saying Detert had weakened the bill too much in order to win acceptance in the House.

The bill reflects Detert's pragmatic style.

"I don't get stubborn and butt heads with people," Detert said. "I try to work with them and see what does it take to get this done. As long as it's sensible, reasonable and based on the facts rather than what lobbyist we like best, then it's good government."

A case study

Detert has been praised for her involvement in helping foster children. Her start in the issue provides a window into how she operates as a lawmaker.

Early in her House career, Detert was given her first chairmanship — the House Child and Family Security Committee. One day an 18-year-old woman who had been in foster care walked into her office and said the state "keeps screwing up my life."

"We spend millions of dollars doing that to you," Detert said to the young woman. "Why don't you sit on my couch and tell me how we can spend millions of dollars to help you."

After her talk, Detert directed her staff to use their expertise to develop legislation that ultimately became the "Road to Independence" law, which provided more assistance and scholarships to foster children and was signed into law by Gov. Bush.

A dozen years later, Detert is again moving major reforms for the foster care system, including a so-called "normalcy" bill that would give foster parents more freedom to make day-to-day decisions for the children, such as the ability to get a haircut, and another measure that would let foster children stay in their homes until they are 21.

The legislation all goes back to her encounter with the foster child in 2001.

"It did nothing to help her, but it helped all the kids behind her," Detert said.

Here are some of the major bills filed by state Sen. Nancy Detert, R-Venice, in the 2013 Legislature:Texting while driving
A ban on texting while driving (SB 52). It would make texting a secondary violation for drivers, carrying a $30 fine plus court costs.
Mobile home parks
Measures (SB 104, 106) are aimed at giving renters in mobile home parks more notice and disclosure about what could happen to them if the park owners decided to sell the property.
Guidance counselors
A bill (SB 154) setting staffing standards for school guidance counselors, including prohibiting them from being used for non-guidance activities, such as lunch room supervisors.
Internet sales tax
Imposing the state's 6 percent sales tax on Internet transactions involving non-Florida retailers, like Amazon. Companies that have Florida stores must already impose the tax on Internet sales. The bill (SB 316) has also been linked to Gov. Rick Scott's tax break for buying manufacturing equipment and would provide a reduction in taxes consumers pay on their phone and cable television bills.
Foster children
Several bills aimed at helping foster children, including a so-called "normalcy" bill that would give foster parents more freedom to make day-to-day decisions for the children, such as the ability to get a haircut. Another measure that would let foster children stay in their homes until they are 21.
Ethics
A bill (SB 434) that would allow liens to be used against public officials who do not pay their fines for violations of the state ethics laws.
Consumer credit
Several bills aimed at protecting consumer credit records. One bill (SB 566), filed on behalf of state Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, seeks to protect the credit records of children who may be unaware of identity theft.
Another measure would restrict the ability of some entities, like insurance companies, to use credit records in evaluating customers.
LIST ONLINE: A list of bills filed so far by Sen. Detert can be found at www.flsenate.gov/Senators/s28

Lloyd Dunkelberger

Lloyd Dunkelberger is the Htpolitics.com Capital Bureau Chief.
He can be reached by email or call 850 556-3542.
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Last modified: February 18, 2013
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